Pioneering Sound Artist to Speak at U.Va. School of Architecture

March 19, 2008 — Bill Fontana, pioneer of sound art for more than 30 years, will give a Dean's Forum Lecture at the University of Virginia School of Architecture. Co-sponsored by the McIntire Department of Music, the lecture, "Acoustic Simultaneity and the Sculpture of Sound," will be given Friday, March 28 at 5 p.m. in Campbell Hall, room 158.

Fontana creates "sound sculptures" based on the ambient noise of various environments with the intention of triggering visual imagery in the mind of the listener. He has presented his sound sculptures extensively, including at The Whitney Museum of American Art in New York (1991), the Museo Reina Sofia in Madrid (1995), the Venice Biennale (1999), and Tate Modern in London, where he presented "Harmonic Bridge" in 2006. His work is also held in permanent collections at major museums around the world, has been published on CDs, and has been reviewed internationally.

Recent work features experiments with live listening networks, on land, underground and underwater, with a particular interest in capturing vibrations from seismic waves. His lecture at U.Va. will explore the delineation of space through sound, among other topics.

Samples of Bill Fontana's sound sculptures his works are available for listening on the artist's Web site: www.resoundings.org.